Health in My Language

What is the Health in My Language program?

Health in My Language is a national health education program for migrant and refugee communities, to address barriers to vaccine literacy and uptake, and increase vaccine confidence, by delivering accurate, multilingual information from trusted professional Bilingual Health Educators across Australia.

Health in My Language is funded by the Commonwealth Government to run until Feb 2024 and deliver education sessions to migrant and refugee communities in every state and territory.

Why is Health in My Language so important?

The recent pandemic showed Australians the importance of access to accurate information about health. Yet, communities who speak languages other than English often have limited access to health information, creating a barrier to understanding why, how, when and where to access vaccination services.

By providing health information and in-language education, MCWH is removing this barrier, with the help of partner organisations in every state and territory. Health in My Language will help migrant and refugee communities to feel more confident in understanding vaccine information and more able to learn and ask questions in a supportive and non-judgemental environment.

Who are we working with?

MCWH is working with partner organisations in each state and territory to deploy a team of 44 Bilingual Health Educators who have been trained to deliver health education in over 20 languages/dialects, using our MCWH health education model. It is the first time MCWH is upscaling our health education model to a national capacity.

Our partners are:

Melaleuca Refugee Centre (NT)
True Relationships and Reproductive Health (QLD)
Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (NSW)
Women's Health Matters (ACT)
Australian Red Cross (TAS & SA)
Ishar Multicultural Women's Health Services (WA)

Updates and impact

Since it began, Health in My Language has made a huge impact on bilingual communities. Our talented and hardworking team of Bilingual Health Educators have run 254 sessions in just under 3 months! In September alone the Health in My Language program delivered 143 sessions, attended by at least 2000 women and men from across Australia. We’d also like to thank and acknowledge the incredible work of our partners in coordinating this nation-wide workforce with such enthusiasm and talent!